Pandemic far from over, Indian forces fully engaged in supporting govt, says army chief Naravane

PANEX-21 is being held in the backdrop of the emergence of the Omicron variant which has sparked widespread concerns across the world.

Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Tuesday asserted the coronavirus pandemic is far from over citing the emergence of new variants across the world.

Attended by Bimstec countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and India—the focus of the exercise will be on providing relief and fostering joint planning amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

“I would like to highlight that during the ongoing pandemic situation, the Indian forces were fully engaged in government efforts to provide all necessary support. We reached the remotest parts of our country and provided them help to minimise the impact of the pandemic,” Gen Naravane said at PANEX-21, a disaster management exercise.

“A range of factors such as climate change, unplanned urbanisation, underdevelopment, poverty and threat of pandemics will result in an increased frequency, complexity and severity of disasters in the future,” Gen Naravane also said.

Attended by Bimstec countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and India—the focus of the exercise will be on providing relief and fostering joint planning amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

Gen Rawat emphasised it was crucial for all nations to support each other if there's a disaster in any of the nations. “If biological warfare is beginning to take shape, we need to put our act together and strengthen ourselves to ensure our nations aren't affected by these viruses and diseases,” Rawat said during his address at the curtain-raiser, according to news agency ANI.

Gen Rawat said all nations need to be prepared amid the emergence of Omicron, Coronavirus's new variant. “We see that now Omicron is there, whether it is going to mutate in other forms, we have to remain prepared for it,” Rawat said.

PANEX-21 is being held in the backdrop of the emergence of the Omicron variant which has sparked widespread concerns across the world. Even as information on the variant is scanty, scientists are fearing Omicron to be more dangerous than the Delta variant, which wreaked havoc in the previous waves of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).